Tim Buckley

Timothy Charles Buckley III (February 14, 1947 – June 29, 1975) was an American musician. His music and style changed considerably through the years. Buckley began his career based in folk music, but his subsequent albums experimented with jazz, psychedelia, funk, soul, the avant-garde, and an evolving voice-as-instrument sound. He died at the age of 28 from a heroin and morphine overdose, leaving behind sons Taylor and Jeff.

Early life and career

Tim Buckley was born in Washington, D.C. on Valentine's Day, February 14, 1947, to Elaine (née Scalia), an Italian American, and Timothy Charles Buckley Jr., a decorated World War II veteran and son of Irish immigrants from Cork. He spent his early childhood in Amsterdam, New York, an industrial city about northwest of Albany. At five years old, Buckley began listening to his mother's progressive jazz recordings, particularly Miles Davis.

Buckley's musical life began after his family moved to Bell Gardens in southern California in 1956. His grandmother introduced him to the work of Bessie Smith and Billie Holiday, his mother to Frank Sinatra and Judy Garland and his father to the country music of Hank Williams and Johnny Cash. When the folk music revolution came around in the early 1960s, Buckley taught himself the banjo at age 13, and with several friends formed a folk group inspired by the Kingston Trio that played local high school events.

During high school, Buckley was elected to class offices, played on the baseball team and quarterbacked the football team. During a football game, he broke two fingers on his left hand, permanently damaging them. He said that the injury prevented him from playing barre chords. This disability may have led to his use of extended chords, many of which don't require barres. However, this disability claim seems to be invalidated because Buckley's performance on the final episode of the television show, ''The Monkees'', broadcast on March 25, 1968, clearly shows Buckley using a barre chord while performing " Song to the Siren" on an out-of-tune 12-string guitar.

Buckley attended Loara High School in Anaheim, California. He cut classes regularly and quit football, focusing most of his attention on music. He befriended Larry Beckett, his future lyricist, and Jim Fielder, a bass player with whom he formed two musical groups, the Bohemians, who initially played popular music, and the Harlequin 3, a folk group which regularly incorporated spoken word and beat poetry into their gigs.

Buckley and lyricist/friend Beckett wrote dozens of songs, some that appeared on Tim's debut album, ''Tim Buckley''. "Buzzin' Fly" was written during this period and was featured on '' Happy Sad'', his 1969 LP.

Buckley's college career at Fullerton College lasted two weeks in 1965. After dropping out of college, Buckley dedicated himself fully to music and playing L.A. folk clubs. During the summer of 1965, he played regularly at a club co-founded by Dan Gordon. He played Orange County coffeehouses such as the White Room in Buena Park and the Monday-night hootenannies at the Los Angeles Troubadour. That year, ''Cheetah'' magazine deemed Buckley one of "The Orange County Three", along with Steve Noonan and Jackson Browne.

In February 1966, following a gig at It's Boss, the Mothers of Invention's drummer Jimmy Carl Black recommended Buckley to the Mothers' manager, Herb Cohen. Cohen saw potential in Tim and landed him an extended gig at the Night Owl Cafe in Greenwich Village at West 3rd and MacDougal. Buckley's girlfriend, Jainie Goldstein, drove him to New York. While living in the Bowery with Jainie, Buckley ran into Lee Underwood and asked him to play guitar for him. The two became lifelong friends and collaborators.

Under Cohen's management, Buckley recorded a six-song demo acetate disc which he sent to Elektra records owner Jac Holzman, who offered him a recording contract.

Folk rock

In August 1966, Buckley recorded his self-titled debut album in three days in Los Angeles. He was often unhappy with his albums after they were recorded and described his debut album as "like Disneyland". The record featured Buckley and a band of Underwood and Orange County friends. Underwood's mix of jazz and country improvisation on a Telecaster guitar became a distinctive part of Buckley's early sound. Jac Holzman and Paul Rothchild's production and Jack Nitzsche's string arrangements cemented the record's mid-'60s sound.

The album's folk-rock style was typical of the time, although many people, including Underwood, felt the strings by Nitzsche "did not enhance its musical quality." Critics took note of Buckley's distinctive voice and tuneful compositions.

Underwood considered the record to be "a first effort, naive, stiff, quaky and innocent uta ticket into the marketplace". Holzman expressed similar sentiments and thought Buckley wasn't comfortable in his own musical skin. Larry Beckett suggested the band's desire to please audiences held it back.

Elektra released two singles promoting the debut album, "Wings" with "Grief in My Soul" as the B-side, and "Aren't You the Girl"/"Strange Street Affair Under Blue." Buckley followed with "Once Upon a Time" and "Lady Give Me Your Key", which were not well regarded but showed potential. Elektra decided not to release the songs as singles, and the songs remained in Elektra's record vaults. Rhino Records was unable to find "Lady Give Me Your Key" to include on its '' Morning Glory: The Tim Buckley Anthology'', but the song was the title track on Light in the Attic Records' 2017 collection of the previously unissued 1967 acoustic sessions. "Once Upon A Time" surfaced on Rhino's ''Where The Action Is 1965–68 Los Angeles'' anthology in 2009.

'' Goodbye and Hello'', released in 1967, featured late 1960s-style poetry and songs in different timings, and was an ambitious release for the 20-year-old Buckley. Reflecting the confidence Elektra had in Buckley and group, they were given free rein on the content of the album. Beckett continued as lyricist and the album consisted of Buckley originals and Beckett–Buckley collaborations. Critics noted the improved lyrical and melodic qualities of Buckley's music. Buckley's voice had developed since his last release and the press appreciated both his lower register and falsetto in equal measure.

The subject of the album distinguished it from its predecessor. Beckett addressed the psychological nature of war in "No Man Can Find the War", and Underwood welcomed Buckley's entry into darker territory with "Pleasant Street". "I Never Asked to Be Your Mountain" represented a confessional lyric to his estranged wife and child, while the mix of introspective folk songs and political-themed content attracted folk fans and anti-war audiences. Holzman had faith in Buckley and rented advertising space for the musician on the Sunset Strip, an unusual step for a solo act. Buckley distanced himself from comparisons to Bob Dylan, expressing an apathy toward Dylan and his work. While ''Goodbye and Hello'' did not make Buckley a star, it performed better in the charts than his previous effort, peaking at No. 171.

Buckley's higher profile led to his album ''The Best of Tim Buckley'' being used as a soundtrack to the 1969 film ''Changes''. Buckley performed " Song to the Siren" on the final episode of ''The Monkees''. Buckley was wary of the press and often avoided interviews. After a slot on ''The Tonight Show'', Buckley was standoffish and insulting toward Johnny Carson, and on another television appearance refused to lip sync to "Pleasant Street".

After Beckett was drafted into the Army, Buckley developed his own style, and described the jazz/blues-rock with which he was associated as "white thievery and an emotional sham." Drawing inspiration from jazz greats such as Charles Mingus, Thelonious Monk, Roland Kirk, and vocalist Leon Thomas, Buckley's sound became different from previous recordings.

In 1968, Buckley toured Europe twice, first including Denmark, the Netherlands, and England, appearing e.g. on John Peel's ''Top Gear'' radio show on the BBC
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